


Grey Skies mean Silver Linings

by otaku_lady89



Category: Mahou Shounen Just Say No
Genre: Aromantic Tsukune, Asexual Tsukune, Multi, Prostitution, Threesome - M/M/M, Yuuri's backstory is the same, tramps like us au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2018-12-15 12:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11806209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otaku_lady89/pseuds/otaku_lady89
Summary: Kanoshi Kyosuke is a successful middle-school teacher, and his life couldn't be better. He has a sweet boyfriend, he has a sweet apartment, he has a sweet life. Until he has the worst day of his life, and then finds a boy in a box. Or rather, a twenty-something in a box, and it's raining. What is he to do?!





	1. Boy in a Box

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nhitori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhitori/gifts).



> This is a fanfic for a wonderful serial novel written by the amazing Nhitori.  
> You can find the serial novel here:  
> http://nicoserial.blogspot.com/2017/08/mahou-shonen-just-say-no-chapter-one.html

Kanoshi Kyosuke had a good life. He was a middle-school teacher and had steady work. He was well on his way to being tenured and he was very, very proud of that. He focused on his work, for the most part, his passion for taking care of and encouraging children something that he couldn't put aside. He had a wonderful boyfriend, who was kind and sweet and never fussed when Kanoshi put his work before their dates. Kanoshi had a sweet apartment, with a lovely kotatsu and an english-style bed that he'd saved up for for quite a while. Yes. Kanoshi had a good life.

 

Until today. Until this moment, sitting in a family restaurant across from his boyfriend. Until this moment, when the words "I've been cheating on you" came out of his boyfriend's mouth. 

 

"I've been seeing my secretary behind your back. Or rather... I've been seeing you behind hers. She's pregnant." His words seemed to be coming faster as if he was nervous. Kanoshi couldn't understand why he was nervous. He wasn't the one who had been told they were the 'side-chick'. 

 

"So... I guess I'm leaving you. Sorry. It's just... You're so happy with your work, I don't think we could make a life together." The man shrugged, and Kanoshi swallowed hard as he got up and left. 

 

On top of getting dumped, Kanoshi got left with the check. 

 

To top it off, it started raining on the walk home. Kanoshi bit his lip to keep from crying. He wasn't going to let this get to him. He'd been single before. He could do it again. Nothing was wrong.

 

Oh who was he kidding, he thought, as he turned down the corner towards his apartment building. Sadness made his steps waver, and he ended up tripping over a box, and collapsing on top of-

 

The box yelped. Or rather, the boy in the box did, as Kanoshi collapsed on top of him.

 

"Oh my gosh!" Kanoshi yelped, jumping backward. His backside landed in a puddle and he scuttled back away from the box. "Are you okay?!"

 

"Fine..." The box-boy mumbled, sitting up. He'd been curled up fetal position inside the box before Kanoshi's bumble, and now he was gazing at Kanoshi with a sort of lackluster boredom that seemed out of place on someone who'd just been attacked by someone.

 

"What are you doing in a box?! It's raining!" Kanoshi's mother-hen instinct kicked in, and he stood up, reaching down to take the young man's forearm and tug him up out of the melting cardboard box. The dark tan of Kanoshi's skin complimented the paleness of this stranger's, making him look almost white.

 

"Well... I live here." The man answered, and Kanoshi spluttered. The rain continued to fall around them, and a car passed them on the deserted street, splashing them both with dirty water.

 

"In a box?!"

 

The blonde box boy nodded, looking up at Kanoshi with an almost unaffected expression. "Got kicked out of my last apartment. The landlord wanted more than money for rent."

 

"W-Well, come upstairs and at least I can get you d-dry, and maybe get you a meal, and you can tell me all about it, o-okay?" He offered, chilled to the bone in his yellow sweater and jeans.

 

Box boy was looking up at him in wonder, his leather jacket thick around his skin. Kanoshi felt oddly as if he was being read like a book, and had to look anywhere BUT at this young man's eyes.

 

The pale man nodded.

 

~~~~~

 

The two of them rode the elevator in silence, and when the doors dinged open, Kanoshi led the way to his apartment. Unlocking the door, he pushed it open and welcomed the stranger into his home. They passed the entryway, shoes off, and headed for the living area, where his kotatsu sat, it's beautiful blue-and-white checkered quilt under the cherry wood of the top. His TV was still on, tuned to the news, and his bowl from this morning still rested on the top of the kotatsu, chopsticks haphazardly set beside it.

"Nice house." The box boy commented.

 

"Th-Thank you." Kanoshi was so glad he'd cleaned up that Sunday, because the place was only mildly dirty now, instead of the hikikomori-level of trash he'd built up before.

 

"Please, take a seat." He said, before trudging into the bathroom for towels. When he came back with two towels, his own clothes freshly changed, the leather-clad blonde was still standing, dripping on the tatami of Kanoshi's apartment floor. Kanoshi passed him a towel, and the blonde started drying off.

 

"I-if you give me your clothes, I c-can hang them up in the bathroom to dry..." Kanoshi didn't have a washer, he only had a line outside that was being rained on right now.

 

"I'm fine."

 

"N-No you aren't!" Kanoshi chided, "You'll catch a cold in those wet clothes. H-Here." He handed the younger man dry clothes from what had been his boyfriend's side of the closet. Now it was just filled with bad memories.

 

"...Thank you." The young man said, before brushing past Kanoshi and going into the bathroom and closing the door with a click.

 

All of Kanoshi's breath whooshed out of him, his heart pounding against his chest. What was he doing?! Letting a stranger into his house, and offering him his boy-EXBoyfriend's clothing?! Offering a MEAL? Sure, Kanoshi was lonely, he was always lonely, he had no friends. He didn't even have a boyfriend now. He was alone...Just as that thought crashed into him, dark and harrowing, the bathroom door opened, and out came the blonde boy.

 

"So uh... What can I do?" There was a blush on the boy's cheeks, and Kanoshi blinked.

 

"Huh? O-Oh! I-If you want to help me chop some vegetables, I can get dinner ready! Then we can sit and talk, alright?" He turned and headed for the kitchen, pulling out a knife and cutting board. Silence settled over the two of them again, and Kanoshi couldn't help but feel awkward as hell, putting water on the boil. The two of them created a dinner together, and then sat it on the kotatsu table, sitting under the blanket together.

 

"I um...I sh-should probably ask your name... M-Mine's Kanoshi Kyosuke." Kanoshi offered, only for the blonde to look at him funny.

 

"You have a first name for you last name."

 

"Ah... y-Yes." He got that a lot.

 

"Yuuri Ruka. If you say anything about that being a girl's name, I'll punch you." Yuuri Ruka... the name oddly fit the man before him, somehow sounding tough in a way that Kanoshi could never be.

 

"Ruka-san, then." Kanoshi smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Why was Ruka-san in a cardboard box?"

 

"I told you already." He murmured, before taking a bite of rice into his mouth. "Landlord wanted more than rent. I wasn't willing to sell him my ass, so he kicked me out. Said he'd sell all my stuff to get the difference. Doesn't matter, he won't get much for it." He sounded so... defeated. Kanoshi's heart ached for the poor dear. "Do you have anyone you can stay with? Family? You parents?" Kanoshi asked although he supposed it was a stupid question. The guy wouldn't be sleeping in a cardboard box if he had anywhere else to go.

 

"No." Was the clipped answer, and Kanoshi flinched. "O-Oh..." Kanoshi swallowed, thinking to himself. And then, instead of thinking at all, he blurted out, "D-Do you want to stay here?"

 

"...I'm not giving you my ass either." Ruka-san warned. Kanoshi yelped, waving his hands in front of him to indicate not a chance. "N-No I! That's not! I-I just meant-" Kanoshi's tongue tied itself in knots and he gave up, face red and smoke pouring from his ears.

 

"Snrk." It was almost a laugh, almost. But there was only the hint of a smile on Yuuri Ruka's face. "Sure. I'll figure out a way to pay my half of the rent."

 

"O-Oh you don't have to!" Kanoshi declared, and then he realized what it sounded like. His face turned even redder. "I-I just mean that I-I have steady work! So I don't mind! B-But if you could contribute to groceries, that would be nice... otherwise we'll be eating a lot of ramen..." "...So am I like... a project to you? A kept man? What is this?"

 

"N-Nothing like that!" Kanoshi whined, "I-I just... Y-You remind me of-" He mumbled his answer because he didn't want to offend Ruka-san.

 

"Speak up."

 

"You reminded me of... a r-rabbit... out there in the cold." Kanoshi mumbled, tweedling his fingers together.

 

"...So I'm a pet to you then." Ruka appeared to be thinking this over while Kanoshi was slowly dying of utter mortification. "...Okay. I can do that. I'll be your pet."

 

"W-What?!"


	2. Yuuri's New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri is getting used to his new life as a pet.

Being a "Pet" isn't as complicated as it seems. You just make sure that whatever state your owner is in, you make them happy. This wasn't the first time that Yuuri Ruka had been in this sort of position, and with his luck, probably wouldn't be the last. What did matter though was that his 'master' was never, ever, happy. 

Oh, he faked smiles, and he acted cheerfully, but Yuuri could tell. This man was lonelier than anyone he'd ever met and more pitiful than anyone he could imagine. And Yuuri had a lot of memory to go on when it came to pitiful. 

Take this morning for instance. The man had stumbled out of his room, waking Yuuri from his sleep under the kotatsu, and made coffee enough for three people. Then, he proceeded to sit at his counter and drink it all, slowly, while staring at a wall and mumbling to himself. Yuuri couldn't quite catch what he was mumbling about, but the words 'eggplant parmesan' and 'stupid face' came up repeatedly. 

Then, once he was awake enough, he turned to Yuuri and smiled, as if he hadn't just been the creepiest thing this side of Tuesday. He chirped a good morning, and Yuuri nodded back. 

"What would you like for breakfast?" Kyosuke-san asked, and Yuuri was pretty sure this man was aiming for sainthood and failing. 

"Whatever's fine with me." He answered, watching the man get up from his seat and head for the cabinets. In the end, whatever turned out to be cereal, with milk, in front of the TV. They didn't discuss what was said last night. The silence was filled with the crunching of cereal between teeth and the announcer on the news talking about the latest Mahou Shoujo anime. 

There just wasn't much to say. Or rather, there was too much to say in such a short amount of time. Once he was done, Yuuri got up and took his bowl to the sink. The least he could do while acting as this man's pet was to keep his house clean. That way there's nothing to make him worry or stress when he gets home. 

After putting his own bowl into the sink, Kanoshi disappeared for a while into the bathroom. He came out in suit pants and a white shirt, pulling on a pink sweater over his head. The sweater had hearts sewn into it. How in the world did the world not know this man was gay?

"I have a full day of classes today, plus grading to do, so I might be a little late. I'll try to stop by and have a key made for you during my lunch. Please lock the door if you leave, this isn't a bad neighborhood, but still." 

And with that, the teacher was gone. Yuuri flopped back onto the floor and wondered what the hell he was doing. Then, he rolled over and crawled towards his jacket. Taking out a smoke and his lighter, he headed for the little balcony that was crammed with a washing machine and plants. 

He thought out a plan for the day while having his smoke, his fingers feeling the traditional burn as he smoked it to the last dregs. Then, he flicked it off the side of the building and went inside. He didn't relish going back to that apartment building, but he figured he should get some of his stuff. Plus, he'd like to punch that landlord right in the face. 

~~~~~~~~

That's what he did and then hightailed it out of there in Kotomi's van. Thank god for the crazy bitch having a weird work schedule, because damn was she easy to get ahold of. He'd been lucky she was willing to let him use her van for moving purposes. When he got back to the apartment, he realized he'd forgotten to lock the door. 

Luckily, nothing had happened, so he and Kotomi carried his stuff up into the loft above the living space. Kanoshi had been using it for storage, so it was full of boxes, but that was fine. Yuuri probably wasn't going to stay here for too long anyway. The saint would get tired of taking care of him for nothing eventually. This was just a place to be until he managed to get his feet under him. Saying goodbye to Kotomi, he surveyed his new den.

He unpacked his stuff, making a bed for himself in the corner out of his old futon, and piling his clothes next to the slanted skylight. Laying down on the futon, he imagined what life would be like if he could stay. 

He thought of how nice the saint had been so far. He thought of what that sort of patience must require. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He got up and started cleaning. 

~~~~

By the time Kanoshi came home, in a daze and carrying mountains of papers, the apartment was mostly spotless. Not that it had been too messy before hand, Yuuri had to admit, but at least now the bathtub was sparkling and filled with clean water. 

"Go take a bath." He said, not turning to look at Kanoshi from where he was chopping vegetables. 

"E-Excuse me?" The teacher panicked and subtly sniffed at his shoulder as if to see if he stunk. 

"I washed the bath. Filled it too. Go take a bath. Relax."

"O-Oh!" Kanoshi's eyes widened, and his cheeks pinked, and Yuuri wondered what the hell he was seeing with those wide eyes. "Th-Thank you. I'll just um... I-I'll just go and uh... do that."

Kanoshi disappeared into the bathroom again, and Yuuri turned to the boiling pot of curry and added some carrots to it. At least the teacher had had that much in ingredients. He'd been worried when he looked in the cupboards and found little more than ramen and a few weeks-old veggies. Luckily one didn't need meat for curry. 

The rice beeped done, and he opened the rice cooker and served up two bowls of rice. Setting them on the table, he quickly managed to pour some of the curry sauce over the rice too. Then, he poured the two of them glasses of ice water from the clean dishes next to the sink. He sat down himself and unceremoniously started eating. 

The news was on something about a banchou group robbing a conbini while some bystanders took pictures. Some idiot with a red ribbon mask on. Who even does that? 

Eventually, Kanoshi joined him, and when Yuuri looked over, he noticed that the other man was blonde too. Huh. Weird. He didn't seem to have roots showing, but he was probably dying it. Green eyes snuck glances at him out from under the blonde fringe, and Yuuri got tired of it pretty quickly.

"What."

"Th-thank you for all the things you did today. I-I mean, you didn't have to." 

"I wanted to," Yuuri answered, and that was that. At least, it was to him. Apparently, it wasn't enough for Kanoshi however. 

"Still... Thank you. Um..." He fiddled with his chopsticks. 

"What." Yuuri was getting annoyed.

"Why did you say you were my pet?"

Yuuri looked at the man, really looked at him. And that's when it occurred to him that this man was innocent. "Because you're putting me up, feeding me, and not requiring anything from me for staying here. That's what you call a pet." Or a wife. But Yuuri had no illusions about what this man wanted from him. 

"O-Oh. And um... H-How old are you?"

"Old enough to drink." He'd just turned twenty a few months ago. He'd spent the entire day sloshed on free booze. The hangover hadn't been worth it. 

Another wide-eyed stare. 

"WHAT." He snapped, annoyed that this man couldn't just ask his damned questions, instead of waiting like a loon. 

"...A-Are you going to school?"

"...Dropped out in middle school."

"What?!" And suddenly now it was the teacher's turn to yell. Yuuri stuck a pinky in his ear, wedging it in to get rid of the ringing. He could admit that that reaction had been a bit of a surprise for him. 

"I dropped out in middle school. What's your problem?"

"Have you taken a General Education Exam?" The teacher demanded, suddenly serious and confusing as hell. 

"There's no way I'd pass something like that." Yuuri huffed, shaking his head. He was sure that the man was off his nut at this point. Or maybe just far too serious about education.

"Yes you can, Ruka-san! I know you can!" and suddenly, Yuuri was stunned. This stranger had more faith in him than his own mother ever had. This stranger cared more about him than Yuuri himself ever did. He hadn't really thought about it, but maybe... Maybe he could try. 

~~~~~~~~~  
The next day, Kanoshi came home with two gifts for Yuuri. One was a key, sparkly and new, cut to fit the lock of the front door. The second was a guidebook, designed to help those who dropped out of middle school get their education. 

Yuuri practiced daily, and when he got stuck, he went to the teacher, who carefully helped him figure out what to do next. It was amazing what happened when you had your own private teacher. 

~~~~~~  
Everything was going great, until Kanoshi came home one day and told him he had to pretend to be his cousin. He hadn't been sure what was going on until a man followed Kanoshi into the apartment, long black hair sweeping behind him like a cape. 

"What a lovely home you have, Kano-kun."


	3. Stolen Kiss #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horace gets a boyfriend.

The first glimpse of Kanoshi Kyosuke's apartment that Horace had gotten was when he'd asked his friend to follow the teacher home and take pictures. Mostly due to the fact that he was pretty sure someone that nice had to be a serial killer in their off time. But nope. He lived in a tiny apartment, all by himself, and generally looked one spook away from dying of a heart attack. 

Horace Giorno had fallen in love almost instantly. 

Of course, the problem was trying to figure out if his love would even remotely be appreciated, much less reciprocated. So of course when Kanoshi wore that godawful pink sweater (the single gayest peice of clothing Horace had ever seen) Horace considered the track open to wooing his flinchy love. 

~~~~~~~~~

"Kyosuke-sensei, there's someone at the door for you!" One of Kanoshi's students called into the classroom, and Horace waited patiently outside the door for the teacher to come out. Today he was wearing a skyblue sweater over his normal white shirt, and it had... Were those balloons? Multicolored balloons were stitched all over the sweater, as if he were about to fly off. His blonde hair was in his face once again, and Horace reached out and brushed it back behind his ear, to reveal those beautiful green eyes. 

"C-Can I h-help you?" Kanoshi had stuttered. They'd talked a few times before, and Horace had a feeling he was slowly warming up to him, but somehow... He wasn't sure. 

"I thought I'd offer to cook dinner for you tonight. Ah, not at my place though, it's a bit too messy for company. Would you mind if we did it at yours?" Double entendre entirely meant, of course, but it seemed to fly right over the blonde's head. 

"O-Oh uh, s-sure!" Kanoshi's eyes widened, and Horace adored the sparkle in his eyes. It was as if he was enamored just with the idea of someone paying him attention. The poor guy must be pretty lonely. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

That was how Horace ended up at Kanoshi's apartment, walking in the door to find Kanoshi whispering feverishly to a young man. Raising an eyebrow, Horace had to admit, the kid was cute. There wasn't much of a family resemblance though, as far as he could tell. 

"Th-This is my c-cousin, Yuuri." Kanoshi introduced the kid, and Horace gave his most flirtaceous smile. 

"I can see the beauty spreads across your family tree evenly." 

"..." The silence after the line was palpable, and it was clear that Yuuri was glaring at Horace. Horace cleared his throat, and gestured to the bags in his hands. "Is that the kitchen?"

"O-Oh yes!" Kanoshi then took him on a tour through the small apartment, and ended it in the kitchen, where Horace got to work, cutting up vegetables in small chunks. He'd intended to provide a meal not often prepared in Japan, so that the other teacher would be intrigued by it. Hence his choice to prepare Paella. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Once the dinner was put on the table, the silence became unbearable. Horace felt the oppresive silence like a blanket over him every time he took a bite. Yuuri sat silently, between Kanoshi and Horace, like some kind of sentinal. It was even easier to see that the little cousin had to have some sort of crush on his older cousin, to be that particularly vigilant. 

"So, Yuuri-san, what school do you attend?" Horace asked, trying to make conversation. The blonde lifted his head, regarding Horace with a cold eye. 

"I don't." 

"Oh, do you work?"

"No."

"...So a NEET then? It sure is kind of your cousin to help you out." Horace tried to shower praise on Kanoshi, only for the dark-skinned blonde to shake his head. 

"N-No! I'm glad that Ru-Yuuri-kun is here. He's a big help around the house, and I don't mind having someone else in my house." Kanoshi defended, "A-And he's n-not a NEET. I-I'm teaching him so that he can get into a good college."

"...You're a middle-school teacher." Horace blinked, confused as to how that would help someone trying for college. 

"He's a lot more talented than you think." Yuuri declared, and Horace felt as if he were stepping on a landmine here. 

The rest of dinner was silence.

~~~~~~

After the most awkward meal of his life, Horace was walked out by Kanoshi. Finally, he had the chance to ask what he wanted to ask. Cornering the younger man the moment the door was closed, he stared into those lovely eyes. 

"Kano-kun, I can't stand it anymore. I adore you. Will you go out with me?"

Kanoshi trembled, which was adorable, and his mouth flapped as if trying to think of the answer to a particularly hard geometry problem. Finally, his head dropped, and he just nodded. So cute. 

"Then I'll pick you up on friday after work. We'll go out to dinner, and a movie, my treat."

The pink-sweatered man gave a squeak, face and neck red. Horace couldn't help it. He lifted that chin, and stole a sweet, soft kiss from those trembling lips. 

"Then, this is goodnight." And with that, he turned around, feeling his ponytail whip behind him.


	4. A Day

Kanoshi Kyosuke felt flabbergasted. There was no other word for it. He watched Horace sashay away, and then did the most cliche thing ever. He touched his lips and sighed. He turned around, going back into the apartment. He didn't really see Ruka-kun, who sat at the kotatsu drinking something warm from a mug. He didn't really see anything except for Horace's eyes. He'd been kissed. It had been months since his last boyfriend kissed him. It had been forever since they'd... Well. Lets just say that Kanoshi was still partially a virgin, and leave it at that. 

He blushed at how his thoughts were arranging themselves, and remembered then that Ruka-kun was still at the table. He was sitting there all by himself, and Kanoshi felt a little bit guilty. So he got himself a cup of coffee, and joined Ruka-kun at the table. The two sat in silence for a few moments, and Kanoshi couldn't help but feel awkward. 

"Sorry for asking you to pretend to be my cousin..." He murmured. "I just... wasn't sure what Horace-san would think."

"About the fact that you have a live in pet?" The words were sharp, and barbed, and Kanoshi flinched when they hit him. 

"Yes." He answered, barely a breath, and his shoulders drew up. Ruka-kun sighed, and shook his head. 

"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal." He murmured, getting up and putting his coffee cup in the sink. He then turned, and informed Kanoshi that he was going to bed. Without much preamble, the pet scrambled up the ladder to the loft, and Kanoshi didn't see him the rest of the night. 

 

* * *

The date was fun. Horace had made uncomfortable remarks occasionally, but Kanoshi looked past it to the fun he was having and the enjoyment of Horace's company, and so didn't say anything. Their next date was much the same. Kanoshi allowed a single kiss on each date. He was far too nervous for anything else, and worried he might actually puke on Horace if he wasn't careful. His stomach had more tummyflies than he'd ever experienced before around the dark-haired man. 

As their relationship grew more and more serious, however, he'd find himself pinned to a wall and kissed senseless at school. Or surprised with flowers on his doorstep. Or texted good morning before he woke up. The whole thing was entirely too much, really! Kanoshi knew he didn't deserve such an attentive boyfriend, and was honestly a bit overwhelmed. When he got home one day after a date, he collapsed onto the couch, rubbing his face in the fabric, and considering dissapearing for Horace's sake. 

"Someone had fun." A voice reminded Kanoshi that he wasn't alone, and he looked up. Ruka-kun was there, clad in a smock that looked like it belonged to a grocery store checker. Kanoshi frowned. Had Ruka-kun gotten a job? But he'd told him...

"Horace-san took me to a festival."

"Why do you sound upset by that?"

He couldn't really answer that. He wasn't sure what it was. He just felt so... Tense, around Horace. He kept trying to anticipate when something was going to happen, and failing. He was never not surprised when Horace went to kiss him. He was never not surprised when Horace did something for him. It was exhausting, being surprised all the time. 

"Scoot over." Ruka-kun said, and Kano did just that. Ruka-kun sat down and then flopped over onto Kanoshi's knees. It was a boneless action, careless in its carefulness. Somehow, Kanoshi felt blessed to have such contact with the younger man. Like when a bunny flops over on it's belly and lets you pet it. Without thinking, Kanoshi reached out and started sliding his hands through Ruka-kun's hair. It was soft, and just a little bit wet from the shower. It was... relaxing. Very relaxing. Soon, Kanoshi's stress melted away.

 

* * *

 Time passed, and Kanoshi fell into a rhythm. He would spend time with Horace, become wound up and stressed, and then come home to Ruka-kun, and find that stress melting away. Soon, February rolled around. Kanoshi had almost forgot about it, so when one of his students asked if they could do a valentines exchange in the classroom, He nearly panicked, and it scared the poor girl. He quickly assured her they could, and then as soon as he got off work that day, blew off the date he was supposed to have with Horace, only to go to the grocery store and buy as much chocolate as he could find. 

Then, he went home, melting it down in a double broiler, and adding spices and nuts and caramels to make individual candies. He was pretty decent with the molds, barely any mess, but he still managed to burn his hands on the hot chocolate, like the giant human disaster he was. He made two batches, one for Horace, and one for Ruka. Then he made a third, plainer batch to be given to his students. He cared for them all, after all. 

The next day, Horace cornered him, and explaind that they would be going out to a fancy dinner on Valentines day. Kanoshi agreed, although inside, he was nervous about leaving Ruka-kun alone on Valentines day. 

* * *

 

"Alone? Who said I was going to be alone." was Ruka's reply when Kanoshi apologized. It hit Kanoshi then, and felt a little like a slap to the face. Of course. A guy like Ruka-kun must have a girlfriend. Someone he cared about very deeply. Somehow, that threw a dark pallor over the whole holiday. He left Ruka-kun's chocolates on the counter, wrapped in a baggie with a ribbon around the top the day of valentines day. 

He went through the day smiling, but sad for a reason he couldn't really understand. 

When Horace picked him up after school, he smiled for Horace too. He was distracted all through dinner, and when Horace asked him a question, he just said, "Oh sure."

That was how he ended up here. At a love-hotel. 

The shower was running, Horace taking his sweet time, while Kanoshi had a slight panic attack on the bed. He wasn't sure what he was getting himself into. He'd agreed to come here, so he couldn't say 'oh no, I changed my mind', could he? It'd be rude, after Horace spent all that money... And besides, they had been boyfriends for months, without any sort of reciprocal from Kanoshi's end. He... He kind of owed it to Horace, didn't he?

A cloud of steam heralded Horace's return from the shower, and Kanoshi jumped. 

"Don't be scared, Kano-kun." Horace purred, the robe slipping off and showing Kanoshi EVERYTHING. Kanoshi made a small panicked noise in the back of his throat. 

Horace stopped. 

Then he knelt down on the ground in front of Kanoshi, a seriousness on his face that wasn't usually there. 

"You're nervous. Do you really want to do this?"

Kanoshi swallowed, and nodded. What other answer was there.

"Let me ask again. Do you really want to sleep with me tonight?"

Kanoshi hesitated. He swallowed. He didn't respond.

"You don't. Alright." Horace picked up the robe and put it back on. Tying the sash tightly, with sharp jerky movements. Kanoshi flinched again. 

"I'm so-"

"Don't apologize." Horace declared, "Never apologize for not being ready, Kano-kun. I'm only angry with myself for forcing you."

"But you didn't!" Kanoshi breathed, confusion clouding his features. 

"By bringing you here, I forced your hand. You probably thought I would get angry with you if you said no, didn't you?"

Kanoshi's stunned silence was answer enough. 

Horace shook his head. "I had hoped you knew me better than that."

Somehow, Horace's words felt like condemnation to Kanoshi. 

* * *

 

Horace dropped Kanoshi off at home, and Kanoshi found himself sniffling as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. He rubbed the tears that stung his eyes away, and opened his door. He looked to the counter, and found the chocolates gone. He didn't bother calling out to see if Ruka-kun was home. He went to his room, and flopped down on his bed. Curling into a ball, he started crying.

He cried himself to sleep.

When he woke up, someone was covering him with covers, and it felt warm, and nice. No one had taken care of him in a long, long time. He sighed, softly. He wondered who it was that was covering him up, but only for a second, before he went back to sleep.

 

 


End file.
